1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lamp of a motor vehicle, with the lamp comprising a carrier and a light source. The light source comprises at least one flat electroluminescence diode, such as an organic light-emitting diode (“OLED”) or a power light-emitting diode (“PLED”).
2. Description of the Related Art
Supply of electric power is the basic prerequisite of light emission of indication or lighting devices. Electric power is supplied to the light source through an electrically conductive circuit or by connection of various electric elements. These elements create a conductive path and fulfil the functions that are required from an electric circuit. In the case of power supply to light emitting diode (“LED”) sources, the conductive paths are usually incorporated in the printed circuit board (“PCB”). If a conductive path must be formed in the free space, flexible printed circuits are used.
One of the current development trends of vehicle lighting is the effort to distinguish a particular car model or model series from competitors' products. Since the lights are one of the most predominant elements of car appearance, they find themselves in the designers' center of attention, who try to create interesting optical effects and/or try to concentrate different lighting or indicating functions in the same space. If electroluminescent diodes are used, very interesting designer elements can be created and different lighting functions can be combined. However, a power supply must be brought to every electroluminescence diode. The most frequent method of conducting power includes the use of wires that are soldered or glued with a conductive element to the electroluminescence diode in two or more places. If a signaling device is equipped with more OLEDs, a cluster of a great number of wires is formed, which results in a number of disadvantages such as damage of the conductive path, short circuit, difficult assembly etc.
The above mentioned spatial conductive paths for OLEDs are known, e.g., from the documents US2013026509 and US2014209887. A disadvantage of these conductive paths is the fact that the conductive paths are not adapted for lighting devices of motor vehicles where the required optical characteristics must be met for each light function of the lighting device. The available free space in the car body that is designed for the particular lighting device also plays its role.
An aim of certain embodiments of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages of the existing designs of conductors of light sources, and to ensure the required emissive properties of the lamp within a pre-defined space where some or all the required light functions are provided through flat-shaped electroluminescence diodes mounted on a carrier. A further aim of certain embodiments of the present invention is to provide efficient means to combine light emission by a flat electroluminescence diode and by other light sources, where the entire carrier may contribute to the light emission or to another functional use in a headlight or lamp.